I like the new maps. Google maps on iPhone blew ass, and the 3rd party apps that were any good cost money. New one is great.

Seems faster. Cloud functionality for Safari is pretty awesome. Seamless browsing from one device to another. I picked up on my iPad exactly where I left off browsing from my phone at the park.

I'm sure there's more, but that's just what I noticed so far. It's not groundbreaking, but the improvements are much needed. I like.

DaFace

09-20-2012, 07:51 PM

I'll be interested to see what happens with Maps. I've run across quite a few articles in my RSS feeds this week that basically say it was a nice thought, but Apple's got a LONG way to go before it's anything close to Google. Here's one.

Overall, I guess I don't really understand why Apple wanted to try and jump into a market that's been under development for so long anyway. Just trying to push Google out maybe?

WoodDraw

09-20-2012, 08:01 PM

It's been getting trashed on every tech and news site across the web. Apparently the US is passable (although with some weird 3d problems, and problems from pulling yelp data), but elsewhere it's nearly useless.

It's no surprise, given the amount of time and effort google has put into maps. It's going to take a while for Apple to catch up.

DaFace

09-20-2012, 08:03 PM

It's no surprise, given the amount of time and effort google has put into maps. It's going to take a while for Apple to catch up.

Yeah, that's what I don't really understand. If you're picking and choosing battles, why go up against one that's been so actively refined for so long? Next thing you know, Apple's gonna launch their own search engine.

In58men

09-20-2012, 08:06 PM

There was a pretty big jump with Siri. I asked "who do the Chiefs play on Sunday" and it didn't take me to the internet. Right after that I asked "What's the latest line on the game"

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/09/21/2una4yby.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/09/21/je4ubaqe.jpg

Pants

09-20-2012, 08:26 PM

There was a pretty big jump with Siri. I asked "who do the Chiefs on Sunday" and it didn't take me to the internet. Right after that I asked "What's the latest line on the game"

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/09/21/2una4yby.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/09/21/je4ubaqe.jpg

That's freaking badass.

In58men

09-20-2012, 08:32 PM

"Who are the quarterbacks for the Chiefs". It's a lot better now that it doesn't take you to google or some other search engine. Nice advancement. Just imagine what it'll be like 3 years from now.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/09/21/egu3avaj.jpg

Silock

09-20-2012, 08:36 PM

I'll be interested to see what happens with Maps. I've run across quite a few articles in my RSS feeds this week that basically say it was a nice thought, but Apple's got a LONG way to go before it's anything close to Google. Here's one.

Heres a pic from my local paper of people waiting this morning outside the Apple store.

Man, people are nuts.

DaveNull

09-21-2012, 03:16 PM

Yeah, that's a dealbreaker. I can't have Maps suckin' like that.

I'll hold off on upgrading until they fix Maps.

Looks like certain apps can be linked to the transit directions like Lumatic (http://blog.lumatic.com).

The way that iOS maps will get better at this point is by using them more. Google Maps has been up for 8 years collecting patterns and squashing bugs.

There's also been no indication whether Apple or Google wanted to end the relationship for maps. Which side you think killed the deal probably indicates your bias, but since nobody's confirmed it from the upper levels of either company it's not possible to assess blame.

For my use, the new maps have been just fine. The vector graphics are a real step up. I don't ride public transit so it's not much of a loss for me.

Groves

09-21-2012, 03:22 PM

iOS6 finally made maps usable on my iPhone. The voice turn by turn sure beats looking down all the time to see where to turn.

DaveNull

09-21-2012, 03:44 PM

Have you noticed that it's smart enough to pipe the directions through the car speakers even though you might have a bluetooth headset in? Boss.

sd4chiefs

09-23-2012, 10:54 AM

My Wife updated her Iphone 4s with the new ios 6 and now the battery runs down in 3 hours and it gets hot. She found that other people are having the same problem.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/19704029#19704029

Fish

09-23-2012, 11:09 AM

My Wife updated her Iphone 4s with the new ios 6 and now the battery runs down in 3 hours and it gets hot. She found that other people are having the same problem.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/19704029#19704029

Connect to iTunes.
Transfer purchases from iPhone to iTunes.
Do a backup.
Restore to factory default.
Sync data back.

sd4chiefs

09-23-2012, 11:34 AM

Connect to iTunes.
Transfer purchases from iPhone to iTunes.
Do a backup.
Restore to factory default.
Sync data back.

What a pain in the ass. ios 6 blows.

Gravedigger

09-23-2012, 11:57 AM

Whoa. That Siri shit is awesome. It pissed me off that I couldn't just ask for the score of a game in progress. I assume we'll be able to do that now?

However...

Yeah, that's a dealbreaker. I can't have Maps suckin' like that.

I'll hold off on upgrading until they fix Maps.

The funniest thing I found about Siri was I asked her, "What was the score of the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills game last Sunday?" She said the Chiefs were pummeled by the Buffalo Bills." Then gave me the score, I found it amusing.

Mr. Plow

09-23-2012, 01:08 PM

Heres a pic from my local paper of people waiting this morning outside the Apple store.

Man, people are nuts.

For a phone?

Bewbies

09-23-2012, 04:00 PM

For a phone?

What cracks me up is they could wait a couple days and have it delivered to their house. ROFL

Mr. Plow

09-24-2012, 10:16 AM

Heres a pic from my local paper of people waiting this morning outside the Apple store.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt says Apple should have continued to use Google’s mapping application in iOS 6 instead of swapping it out for its poorly received home-brewed replacement, and given the sour reception Apple’s Maps app has been given, he may have been right.

But multiple sources familiar with Apple’s thinking say the company felt it had no choice but to replace Google Maps with its own, because of a disagreement over a key feature: Voice-guided turn-by-turn driving directions.

Spoken turn-by-turn navigation has been a free service offered through Google’s Android mobile OS for a few years now. But it was never part of the deal that brought Google’s Maps to iOS. And sources say Apple very much wanted it to be. Requiring iPhone users to look directly at handsets for directions and manually move through each step — while Android users enjoyed native voice-guided instructions — put Apple at a clear disadvantage in the mobile space. And having chosen Google as its original mapping partner, the iPhone maker was now in a position where an archrival was calling the shots on functionality important to the iOS maps feature set.

And this caused Apple — which typically enjoys very tight control over its products — no end of philosophical discomfort, sources say. Apple pushed Google hard to provide the data it needed to bring voice-guided navigation to iOS. But according to people familiar with Google’s thinking, the search giant, which had invested massive sums in creating that data and views it as a key feature of Android, wasn’t willing to simply hand it over to a competing platform.

And if there were terms under which it might have agreed to do so, Apple wasn’t offering them. Sources tell AllThingsD that Google, for example, wanted more say in the iOS maps feature set. It wasn’t happy simply providing back-end data. It asked for in-app branding. Apple declined. It suggested adding Google Latitude. Again, Apple declined. And these became major points of contention between the two companies, whose relationship was already deteriorating for a variety of other reasons, including Apple’s concern that Google was gathering too much user data from the app.

“There were a number of issues inflaming negotiations, but voice navigation was the biggest,” one source familiar with Apple and Google’s negotiations told AllThingsD. “Ultimately, it was a deal-breaker.”

At that point, Apple, which had already begun quietly acquiring mapping companies, fast-tracked development of an in-house maps app with voice-guided navigation, with an eye toward making it a tentpole feature of iOS 6. And when Apple realized that it would indeed reach that goal, sources say, it decided to dump Google Maps entirely — even though there was significant time left on its contract with the search giant, as first reported by The Verge. It announced Maps at WWDC in June to the surprise of some, but not to Google, which was well aware the deal was sticks and rags at this point. Then Apple officially launched the app with iOS 6 in September, and now it’s paying the price for what some insiders say was a necessary move made a bit too hastily.

“Apple knew it had a lot of catching up to do in maps,” a person briefed on Apple’s strategy told AllThingsD. “But, given what’s happened the past few days, I think they felt they were farther along than they actually are.”

Hence the current PR debacle from which the company continues to suffer. But Apple is not the only company to be bruised by this rough transition. Gloat as it may over Apple’s mapping missteps, Google suffered a blow when Apple ended the pair’s deal. And it is indeed scrambling to roll out a standalone mapping application for iOS. Google Maps were used by a large portion of iPhone owners, especially in the U.S. And to abruptly lose that user base, particularly one on a rival mobile platform, is a blow. As one geolocation executive observed, “A hundred million devices upgraded is a big body drop” for Google.

Apple declined to comment on the thinking that led to Google’s ouster from Apple Maps. Google did the same thing, though it did take the opportunity to tout its own mapping service: “We believe Google Maps are the most comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps in the world. Our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system.”

DaFace

09-27-2012, 10:07 PM

Huh - sounds like they were both a little pissy about the whole deal. Hopefully Google will just add a native iOS app soon so that users at least have an option.

Groves

09-27-2012, 10:51 PM

Love the turn by turn directions. I can see how people with androids have enjoyed it for a few years. You're a GPS you should know when I'm ready for the next turn.

Now it does.

Fish

09-27-2012, 10:59 PM

Google Maps.....

How Google Builds Its Maps—and What It Means for the Future of Everything (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/09/how-google-builds-its-maps-and-what-it-means-for-the-future-of-everything/261913/)

Behind every Google Map, there is a much more complex map that's the key to your queries but hidden from your view. The deep map contains the logic of places: their no-left-turns and freeway on-ramps, speed limits and traffic conditions. This is the data that you're drawing from when you ask Google to navigate you from point A to point B -- and last week, Google showed me the internal map and demonstrated how it was built. It's the first time the company has let anyone watch how the project it calls GT, or "Ground Truth," actually works.

Google opened up at a key moment in its evolution. The company began as an online search company that made money almost exclusively from selling ads based on what you were querying for. But then the mobile world exploded. Where you're searching from has become almost as important as what you're searching for. Google responded by creating an operating system, brand, and ecosystem in Android that has become the only significant rival to Apple's iOS.

And for good reason. If Google's mission is to organize all the world's information, the most important challenge -- far larger than indexing the web -- is to take the world's physical information and make it accessible and useful.

"If you look at the offline world, the real world in which we live, that information is not entirely online," Manik Gupta, the senior product manager for Google Maps, told me. "Increasingly as we go about our lives, we are trying to bridge that gap between what we see in the real world and [the online world], and Maps really plays that part."

This is not just a theoretical concern. Mapping systems matter on phones precisely because they are the interface between the offline and online worlds. If you're at all like me, you use mapping more than any other application except for the communications suite (phone, email, social networks, and text messaging).

Google is locked in a battle with the world's largest company, Apple, about who will control the future of mobile phones. Whereas Apple's strengths are in product design, supply chain management, and retail marketing, Google's most obvious realm of competitive advantage is in information. Geo data -- and the apps built to use it -- are where Google can win just by being Google. That didn't matter on previous generations of iPhones because they used Google Maps, but now Apple's created its own service. How the two operating systems incorporate geo data and present it to users could become a key battleground in the phone wars.

But that would entail actually building a better map.

Lots more really interesting info at link above..

Silock

09-27-2012, 11:05 PM

Huh - sounds like they were both a little pissy about the whole deal. Hopefully Google will just add a native iOS app soon so that users at least have an option.

Sounds a lot more like google's fault. I can't say I disagree with their reasoning, though.

AustinChief

09-27-2012, 11:06 PM

Another company that doesn;t get mentioned is Navteq. They may have even more data than Google at this point. They are a serious player and are owned by.... Nokia.

WoodDraw

09-27-2012, 11:31 PM

Sounds a lot more like google's fault. I can't say I disagree with their reasoning, though.

Google on licensed their data to Apple. They never developed the app, as far as I know. The license had another year on it, and Apple chose to terminate it early.

Silock

09-27-2012, 11:42 PM

Google on licensed their data to Apple. They never developed the app, as far as I know. The license had another year on it, and Apple chose to terminate it early.

I don't think apple really had any choice. Google maps for iOS was the worst map program by a country mile. I used other apps because there was no other option. As much as it has been maligned, the new maps is just ridiculously better than the alternative. Lack of turn by turn was killing them.